Re: [RANT] French translation for debconf templates stucked at 90% : analysis
Mike Hommey schrieb:
I must say I've not been shocked by MS Windows french version, but I've
been quite shocked by the japanese one. Not because of formal/informal
issues, but because of vocabular. Most of the basic stuff, like "My
computer", "My documents", etc. are just raw english written with
japanese characters. Would you imagine having "My computer", "My
documents", etc. on your french desktop ? I don't.
Language cultures are different. Japanese like to adopt vocabulary from
other languages, when they need a new word. Looking into my small DE-JP
dictionary:
Computer - kompyuta (latin transscript of JP syllables)
Creme - kyrimy
Curryreis - kareraisy
Dokumentarfilm - dokyumentari-eiga
You cannot compare this to french culture, where nearly everything is
translated. Even in one language you can have different cultures. We in
Austria (de_AT) like to adopt foreign words a little bit more than de_DE.
And I doubt that such translations will help japanese newbies to
understand what's going on.
As you see, it seems to be part of the language.
I think the best thing is to learn from any other OS/software/whatever.
One of the purposes of translators is not to loose users into
terminology, right ? So, using the same terminology as other
OS/software/whatever (be it Mac OS, MS Windows, QNX...) helps the user.
Wording is very important.
I always check against a hierarchy of dictionaries:
- common language, like Webster, needs no explanation
- computer language, e.g. FOLDOC
- linux glossary
- package specific, needs definition within the document or first appearance
Languages contain so many synonymous...
Always use the same word for the same thing, choose the most common.
Applying this rule your result will be better than MS Win;-)
Helmut Wollmersdorfer
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